


The Uniform

by hangoverhater



Category: EOS 10 (Podcast)
Genre: Canonical Character Death referenced, Fluff, Gen, Grief, M/M, Uniforms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 10:01:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6799351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hangoverhater/pseuds/hangoverhater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After his father's wake, Ryan gets the uniform Akmazian asked for. </p>
<p>Post episode 202, ep 210 referenced.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Uniform

**Author's Note:**

> My first foray into EOS 10 fics, yay! There are way too few fics in this fandom, we need to step it up, guys and gals and other sentient forms!

Once all the speeches were finished and most of the guests had left the wake of Admiral Dalias, Ryan returned to his father’s bedroom to look for a spare uniform Akmazian could use. 

He would’ve found one earlier, but having been interrupted by doctor Urvidian and his mother of all people, he’d had to postpone the closet raid. 

Staring at the clean row of suits, Ryan remembered how when he was a kid, he’d sit around his dad’s office all day and play while the man himself worked. He’d loved spending time with him like that. As he’d grown older and gone through rehab a couple of times, their relationship had somewhat cooled down, but he’d always known he was loved. 

He should pick out that uniform already if he wanted to help Akmazian. 

Ryan grabbed a spare uniform from the rack, giving it a brief once-over before putting it on the bed and folding it. After the suit was in a neat little pile, Ryan sat down on the bed next to it, smoothing the lapels with his hand. 

It was strange, to say the least. To think that there wasn’t someone to send a fleet of ships to find him if he didn’t answer calls for three days. To think that he wouldn’t hear fondly-phrased backhanded compliments anymore. No more stories of deep-space adventures. To be fair though, those had stopped well before his first stint in rehab.   
Nonetheless, all those stories came back like he’d heard them yesterday. He remembered being so excited to hear about everything the legendary doctor Urvidian had done, remembered deciding he wanted to be a doctor and fly around the galaxy saving people and curing diseases.

People had been asking him if he was okay all day. He was, honestly. He understood that death was something that happened to everyone at some point. Some sooner than others. He was fine. 

He’d told his mother and doctor Urvidian that he was in the pain and guilt stage of his grief process. He supposed it was true, in some way. He knew dad was dead. He knew he wasn’t coming back. He accepted that death was final. Did it hurt? Yes. Did he feel guilty about telling his father about Akmazian and therefore sending him to the Archives to die in an explosion? Yes. Why did people make such a big fuss about it? What was he supposed to do, sit in a corner and cry all day? 

No. He had things to do. Important things, like figuring out who’s responsible for killing… for blowing up the archives and framing Akmazian. He needed to find out the truth. If there was a conspiracy in the Alliance Central Command, he had to bring it out into the open so these people could be stopped.

And he needed to start by helping a fugitive on board EOS 10. A fugitive he really had no business helping, if his career meant anything to him.

Then again, it wasn’t much of a career to begin with. Besides, Akmazian was innocent. 

His train of thought came to a halt when there was a knock on the door. “Ryan?”

“Yeah, mom?” he asked, standing up from the bed. 

The door opened, and his mother stepped in. “Dear, do you want something to eat? I was thinking of… Is that one of your father’s uniforms?”

“Um,” Ryan glanced at the neatly folded suit on the bed and picked it up, “yeah. I thought maybe I could…” he trailed off.

His mother nodded with a sad smile. “Of course, dear. Do you—“

“I’ve gotta go, Mom, thanks,” he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked out, ignoring her calling after him. He really, really had stuff to do.

 

\--

 

The Silent Storm was docked just outside of town. Ryan had to wonder how Akmazian had managed to get here without being spotted by the hundreds of Alliance ships currently in orbit, but he decided to save the speculation for later. 

“I see you clean up well, darlin’,” Akmazian called in greeting as he strolled towards him from the ship. “Not that I doubted you.”

Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Thanks. Dare I ask what your plan to get back to EOS 10 is?”

“I got two words for you, doc: Plausible Deniability,” Akmazian smirked. 

Ryan nodded. “Of course.”

The alleged terrorist pointed towards the uniform. “That the uniform I asked for?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ryan looked down at the bundle in his arms, smoothing the lapels again. “I’m not sure it’s fit you. Dad is… was taller than you.”

An unreadable expression passed across Akmazian’s face, and then came back and camped there. “You sure you wanna lend that to me?” he asked carefully. 

“Huh?” Ryan blinked in confusion. 

“It’s just that you’ve been staring at that uniform for a while now,” Akmazian said slowly. “If you wanna hold on to that, I can come up with another plan.”

Ryan stared at Akmazian for a moment before he clenched his jaw. “No. I had to deal with finding out my mom and doctor Urvidian made out not once but TWICE—“

Akmazian frowned. “What? How’s that—“

“—so you can be damn sure that you will take this goddamn uniform and use it!” Ryan finished, shoving the uniform into Akmazian’s arms. 

Akmazian hastily gathered the clothes so as to not drop them, mildly alarmed by Ryan’s sudden aggression. “Hey now, are you—“

“Don't you dare ask if I’m okay!” Ryan snapped. “Everyone’s been asking me that all day! I’m sick of it! I’m fine!”

Akmazian stared at him for a moment, his jaw slack with surprise. He got over his astonishment relatively quickly, though, and cleared his throat. “Alright. I won’t ask. Thank you, for this,” he nodded towards the uniform. 

Ryan nodded back and turned on his heels, deciding to head back to his hotel. 

“Hey!” 

He turned back around when Akmazian called out to him. “Yeah?”

Akmazian hesitated a moment before the usual confidence returned. “I got a few repairs to do before I take off. Could use a hand, if you ain’t busy?”

 

\--

 

“You need the what now?”

“The compression coil?” Akmazian poked his head up from the maintenance hatch near the cockpit, pointing at the thing he needed. 

Ryan looked around, but he didn’t see anything that resembled a compression coil. What did that even look like? “Compression coil,” he repeated.

Akmazian looked at him patiently. “I’m pointing right at it, darlin’. By your left hand, around seven inches to the left.”

Finally locating the part, Ryan grabbed it and handed it over. “What’s this thing for, anyway?”

“The compression coil,” Akmazian explained as he dropped back down to lie on his back beneath the complicated-looking system with the device, “is a relatively useless part on its own. Attached to the engine, it’s still not the most vital piece of machinery. Until it breaks, that is. Then you’re suddenly dead in the water with everything from lights to life support failing.”

Ryan leaned over the hatch to look down to where Akmazian was working. “So, it’s an important part,” he summarized.

“Yes,” Akmazian agreed.

Ryan let him work in silence for a while as he looked around the ship. “How is this trash heap even flying?” he asked when a panel fell off the wall along the corridor. 

“Hey!” Akmazian pointed a wrench at him warningly. “Don’t call her a trash heap. Ships like this, you take care of ‘em and they’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow when a bolt dropped from… somewhere and hit Akmazian's forehead dead center on its way down.

To the man’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. “That was supposed to fall off.”

“Of course it was,” Ryan nodded with a small smile. 

“Shut up, I had to describe a wrench to you before you could tell what it was,” Akmazian fired back with a grin, reaching up to grab the fallen bolt from over his head and started reattaching it. 

“I’m a doctor, not an engineer,” Ryan shook his head. “How do you even know all this stuff, anyway? I thought you were a Destroyer of Stars, not a mechanic.”

“Alleged Destroyer, thank you very much,” Akmazian muttered. “One picks up all sorts of skill when one is being chased around the galaxy for crimes one hasn’t committed.” 

Ryan sighed. “One probably would,” he admitted. His comm tablet came to life before he could ask about other surprising skills the other possessed. “Hello?”

_“Ryan? Honey, where’d you run off to, your grandmother wanted to talk to you.”_

There was a sudden noise from the maintenance hatch, like something hitting… well, something else. A softly muttered curse made Ryan suspect Akmazian had smacked his head into something.

_“What was that? Ryan?”_

He stood up from where he’d been sitting and walked a few meters away from the hatch to keep the noise down. “Nothing, mom, I just… dropped something.”

_“Oh, alright then. You know, for a surgeon you’re surprisingly clumsy.”_

“What did you say about grandma again?” Ryan grimaced when he heard the unmistakeable snort from behind him. 

_“She wanted to talk to you. Something about grandkids and when are you going to settle down. I distracted her, so you owe me dinner.”_

“Thanks, mom,” Ryan smiled. “Listen, I’ll come back soon, we’ll talk about dinner then. Okay?”

_“Alright, honey. I’ll see you later, and if you say you’re not hungry, I’m throwing you to your grandmother’s clutches without a second glance. Bye!”_

Ryan stared at his comm tablet for a moment before turning back to the hatch to see Akmazian leaning his forearms on the edge and resting his chin on them. He had that stupid smirk on his face again.

He kind of wanted to kiss it off. He banished the thought quickly and raised a challenging eyebrow. “Yes?”

Akmazian wiggled his eyebrows. “I could help you out with those grandkids your Granny wants,” he leered. 

Ryan gave him his most unimpressed glare. “Did you maybe forget we’re both human men, and therefore unable to reproduce by ourselves?”

“I promise to try my hardest?” Akmazian asked innocently, or as innocently as a man of his alleged crimes could. 

That was, as they say, it. 

Ryan stared at the wide-eyed, faux-innocent face and just lost it. He laughed harder than either of them had expected, and had to lean over and brace his hands on his knees to stay mostly upright. 

Akmazian looked at him as if he’d grown a second head, which just set him off again. 

Eventually Ryan recovered enough to sit down on the corridor again, shaking his head and wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. He smiled at Akmazian, allowing a couple of helpless giggles escape before clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, I just…” he shrugged.

Akmazian lifted himself out of the hatch and sat by its edge. “That was damn adorable, darlin’. No need to apologize,” he smiled fondly. 

Ryan caught himself thinking about something along the lines of kissing again, and wrecked that train of thought before it had a chance to leave the station. “Thanks for that. I kinda needed a laugh.”

“Happy to be of service,” Akmazian tipped his non-existent hat.

“I should probably…” Ryan trailed off, pointing his thumb to the exit vaguely. 

Akmazian waved his hand nonchalantly. “Thanks for the help. Now go make your momma happy,” he snickered. 

“Shut up,” Ryan stood up with a smile, brushing his pants off and heading out. “Talk to you later,” he called back before disappearing out the door. 

“See you later,” Akmazian murmured, glancing down the hatch before deciding the repairs he’d done were sufficient enough for take-off.

He shut the hatch, grabbing the uniform from the floor next to the hatch before he headed into the cockpit. After he’d set the coordinates to EOS 10, he left a message to the Royal Dishwasher. No, wait, _Saucier._

“Levi, I’m heading back to EOS 10. There’s a small change in the plan, we’re not using the uniform. I’ll update you on Plan B once I’m closer. Akmazian out.”

He cut the connection, glancing at the uniform sitting on the co-pilot’s seat next to him. “I’ll get you back to good doctor, just you wait,” he said, patting the uniform before turning his attention to the starry skies before him.

 

\--

 

The uniform didn’t make it back to Ryan until well after the Orchid Incident. 

Ryan was coming back to his quarters after having a couple of drinks with Jane when he spotted Robin Hood standing outside his door.

“Cloak and hood again?” he asked jovially, lifting a hand when he spotted the slightly irritated expression that came up on Akmazian’s face. “Just kidding. I thought you would’ve gone back to your cargo bay?”

He opened the door and stepped in, gesturing Akmazian to follow. He closed the door after them, but not before quickly checking if anyone else was in the hallway. Better safe than sorry.

“I did go back,” Akmazian replied, crouching down to pet Morpheus and give him a little scratch behind the ears. “Feline,” he greeted before standing back up again.

“You know, he has a name,” Ryan commented with an amused little grin, taking off his coat and setting it on the coat rack he had by the door. 

“I know,” Akmazian took off his cloak and draped it on his forearm. He held out a package wrapped in brown paper out to Ryan. “This is why I came to see you, by the way.”

Ryan frowned, taking the package. It was definitely something soft. “What’s this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just a little something I thought you might like. Open it,” Akmazian gestured, shifting from foot to foot. If Ryan didn’t know him, he might’ve thought the man was nervous. 

“Alright,” he said, striding over to the couch and sitting down with the mystery package. “You can sit down, you know.”

Akmazian hesitated for 0.5 seconds before sitting in the armchair opposite of Ryan. “You’re awfully chipper this evenin’,” he commented.

“I’m just kind of tired, that’s all,” Ryan replied, opening the string around the package before carefully unwrapping the paper. “This day has just… sucked…” he froze when he recognized the fabric.

Akmazian stayed quiet during Ryan’s realization, watching the doctor’s reaction carefully. 

“Is this my father’s uniform?” Ryan looked up at him, eyes wide with disbelief.

“That it is,” Akmazian admitted with a nod. “I thought you might like it back. I, uh, didn’t use after all,” he explained hastily. “Your dad was a man of integrity. Didn’t think he would’ve wanted to aid a terrorist.”

“Alleged,” Ryan corrected. 

“Huh?” Akmazian replied intelligently. 

“Alleged terrorist,” Ryan continued quietly. 

Akmazian gave him half a smile. “Thanks, doc.” He got out of the chair with a sigh, tugging the cloak over his shoulders again. “I better be off, things to do, evidence to gather, that sort of thing.”

He strode to the door. Just as he lifted his hand to the control panel to open it, Ryan’s voice stopped him. 

“Akmazian?”

The alleged terrorist looked over his shoulder. Ryan was looking down at the uniform in his lap while absently petting Morpheus, who’d made his way next to his caretaker as if he knew he needed comforting. 

Who knows, maybe the little beast did know. 

Ryan took a breath before looking up at him seriously. “Thank you. This really means a lot to me.”

Damn, those doe eyes would be the death of him one day. “No problem, darlin’.”

 

\--

 

Ryan stared at the door a while after Akmazian had left. He tore his gaze away when Morpheus made an impatient little meow at him. Glancing at the uniform in his lap before setting it gently on the coffee table, he gathered the cat into his arms and buried his face into the fluffy and soft fur with a deep sigh.

“God, I am so fucked,” he moaned into the fur.

Morpheus meowed and squirmed.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, I love referencing other works of fiction. Cookies and virtual fistbumps to all.
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!


End file.
